And meet me tonight in Atlantic City: February 2020

​“Well, they blew up the chicken man in Philly last night…..”
 
We were pleased to launch two Jersey-centric projects this month.  First, we are working with JBS International, the OMNI Institute, and NJAMHAA to help build organizational capacity for Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. We met the full project team in Trenton to discuss project goals and provide an overview of readiness. Many members of our team have a background in the behavioral health and substance abuse treatment field, so it is great to be working back in that content area. The idea of motivation x capacity derives from the concept of being willing and able and our experiences in direct clinical services. History circles back around! 

We’ll be helping ten sites building and sustain their readiness for this work through intensive technical assistance. Additionally, the state has asked us to focus on a Big 6 organizational factors: policies and practices, workforce development, supervision, workflow, employee recruitment and orientation, and admission and termination criteria for clients managing SUD.  It's a big lift!

Second, we were in Camden for the co-design convening of the New Jersey Health Initiative’s Small Communities Hyperlocal Data Collaboration. Using data supplied and hosted by Data Across Sectors for Health (DASH), can communities learn to use it and implement improvement projects?  It was great to see a widely diverse set of community stakeholders come together to begin to chart out their communities’ journey. One thing that distinguishes this initiative is its spaciousness: We’ll be working together through June 2022, so there is a lot of room for learning, growth, and adjusting. Kudos to RWJF for continuing to invest and support innovative methods for funding and improvement.
 
Coming MAY 2020: Implementation Matters. Together with The Center for Implementation, we will be putting on one-day workshops in DC, Baltimore, Philly, and New York City. Watch this space for more details, including specific locations, pricing, and agenda.
 
Finally in Print. Formative Evaluation and Complex Health Improvement Initiatives: A Learning System to Improve Theory, Implementation, Support, and Evaluation.  According to our records, this article had a four-year gestational period.  Not too bad!
 
Enjoy leap day!